Human Rights Washing? : The process of rationalising human rights in corporations

Sammanfattning: This thesis aims to investigate the process of consulting businesses on human rights through the concept of rationalisation. Corporations have struggled to act in accordance with what is considered responsible business conduct and this has put their legitimacy at risk. To align with the international standards on human rights, corporations have increasingly sought consulting on the topic. Previous research has criticised to what degree human rights can be reconciled with the corporate format and interests. Carrying out a qualitative case study on Human Rights Consulting, this thesis unpacks the process of introducing human rights in the corporation. We find that human rights become rationalised in corporations through referring to the UNGP, concretisation of human rights training and; management tools. At the same time, mapping the corporations serves as a precondition for rationalising human rights in the corporation. This thesis contributes to the theory of rationalisation by displaying how the social actions of consulting on human rights can be understood as expressions of rationalisation.